When webcasting with a VX2000, we often start broadcasting for a while before the scheduled public webcast so that the technical team can begin monitoring the link and report back on lighting, audio, etc. We don't want to record onto tape during this time, but the problem is that in Camera mode, the camera shuts off after five minutes when it's not recording. So this forces us to keep the camera in Memory mode, which doesn't allow us to make full use of all of the camera settings we need. The other problem with Memory mode is that when we do switch over to Camera mode it creates a blue flash on the webcast.

Is there a way to override the automatic 5-minute shutoff in Camera mode?

Leave the tape door open. That should defeat the cutoff.

Thanks Mike.

I've tried leaving the tape door open but after about 10 minutes the camera goes into demo mode and starts flashing all kinds of funky stuff onto the webcast. Is there a way to disable demo mode? I notice that there's a Demo Mode option under Menu but it's greyed out.

According to the manual on page 112, you cannot turn select Demo Mode when a cassette is in the camcorder. So pull the cassette out and turn Demo Mode Off. Then leave the door open and the camera should run without shutdown or starting the Demo.

BTW,

I find it very useful to download the manual in PDF form so I can search it. Much faster than trying to find almost anything in the poorly indexed Sony manual